general internet news - September 23

[David Goldstein <goldstein_david@yahoo.com.au>]

***************************************************
Sponsored by the Singapore Internet Research Centre
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sci/sirc/
Internet in Asia blog: sirc.blogspot.com
***************************************************

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CENSORSHIP & CONTENT REGULATION
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no: Telenor introduces child porn filter
Norwegian telecommunications giant Telenor will now
block sites with child pornography for its Internet
customers. The filter, the first of its type in the
world, has been developed in cooperation with National
Bureau of Crime Investigation Kripos and will be fully
in place during October.
 http://aftenposten.no/english/local/article875141.ece

http://norwaypost.no/content.asp?folder_id=1&cluster_id=26221

http://washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040921-074202-4096r.htm

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,10842857%5e15306%5e%5enbv%5e15306,00.html

Norwegische Polizei entwickelt Kinderpornofilter
Norwegens größter Internetprovider Telenor sperrt in
Zusammenarbeit mit der Kriminalpolizei
Kinderpornoseiten. Am Dienstag hat das Unternehmen
einen neu entwickelten Filter vorgestellt, der die
Benutzer daran hindern soll, auf entsprechende Seiten
zuzugreifen.
 http://zdnet.de/news/tkomm/0,39023151,39126132,00.htm

Telenor and KRIPOS introduce Internet child
pornography filter (news release)
Telenor and KRIPOS, the Norwegian National Criminal
Investigation Service, have introduced a new filter
against child pornography on the Internet. The filter,
which is one of the first of its kind, will prevent
access to web sites containing sexual abuse of
children. Telenor is responsible for the technical
solutions and KRIPOS provides updated lists of web
sites that distribute such material.
 http://presse.telenor.no/PR/200409/961319_5.html

Telenor og KRIPOS lanserer filter mot barneporno på
Internett (news release)
Telenor lanserer i samarbeid med KRIPOS et filter mot
barneporno på Internett. Filteret skal hindre tilgang
til internettsider som tilbyr materiale som viser
seksuelle overgrep mot barn. Telenor står ansvarlig
for den tekniske løsningen, og KRIPOS skal gi Telenor
oppdaterte oversikter over nettsteder som formidler
slikt materiale.
 http://www.kripos.no/akt_tema/Internettfilter.html

nz: Porn protection for NZ schools
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is quering the amount
of inappropriate images being sighted on school
computers.

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_technology_story_skin/448396?format=html

REVIEW: 'Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression
and Media Censorship'
'Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression and Media
Censorship' analyzes the impact of internet media and
activism on Asian countries; despite poor editing,
book is useful tool for researchers and writers
 http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=14783

Iran's protest blogger numbers grow
The number of Iranian bloggers passes 10,000 as
internet users seek to protest against media
censorship.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3677984.stm

uk: My life of porn and violence (it's not the
internet, but...)
As he steps down as Britain's head film censor, Robin
Duval looks back on a controversial career that gave
us more freedom to make our own minds up

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1307596,00.html

us: Pentagon may lift voting site blockade
The U.S. Defense Department said Tuesday that it's
trying to find a way to permit American expatriates to
connect to an absentee voting site that has been
cordoned off because of the risk of hackers.
 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5376044.html

us: Pentagon blocks site for overseas voters
Some Americans overseas are being denied access to a
Pentagon-run Web site intended to make it easier for
them to vote by absentee ballot due to security
measures to thwart hackers.

http://reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=6301304

French ISP confirms US blocking govt sites (reg req'd)
Wanadoo, France's biggest internet provider, has
confirmed that it is on a US blacklist of companies
around the world that have been blocked from accessing
US government and military websites.

http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/21/1095651289350.html

us: School Board To Honor Fallen Detective
Last month, Broward Sheriff's Office Det. Todd Fatta
was shot and killed in the line of duty. Today,
Broward County school officials will remember him for
his efforts to help wipe out child pornography.
 http://www.nbc6.net/news/3747088/detail.html

14 slashed in Chinese internet cafe: report (reg
req'd)
Two men reportedly slashed 14 people in a Beijing
internet cafe in a revenge attack.

http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/22/1095651380090.html

Pro-Chechen websites targeted
Leading websites of Chechen separatists “Chechen
Press” and “Caucasus Center” became unavailable to
visitors. It happened after Lithuanian government
refused a Russian request to shut down a pro-Chechen
Web site that published a $20 million reward for
assistance in the capture of Russian President
Vladimir Putin, saying it cannot take action without a
court order. Servers of “Chechen Press” were hacked on
September 4, the next day after the assault on a
school in Beslan, where terrorists held more than
1,200 of hostages for more than 2 days.
 http://crime-research.org/news/21.09.2004/643/

it: Porn meets politics on satirical website
An irreverent Internet site crammed with pornography
has Italy's elite squirming with unease.

http://reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=6301758
 http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3041733a28,00.html

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LEGAL AND SECURITY
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‘Make Internet less of a cyberjungle’
A 24-year-old Romanian cheats a California computer
equipment distributor out of $10 million. An
Australian teenager causes a release of raw sewage by
hacking into a treatment plant’s system. And if you
fell for that “free computer game” that spammers
promised in 2002, you landed on $4-a-minute porn site,
a scam that earned the criminals $11 million, says
Roderic Broadhurst of the University of Hong Kong’s
Centre for Criminology.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-9-2004_pg6_1

us: Library Porn Filters in Phoenix Stir ACLU
Challenge
With Congress and the federal judiciary at a
standstill over how best to protect children from
Internet pornography at public libraries, the city of
Phoenix, Ariz., has jumped out front on the issue. The
city's new ban on web smut is also already the target
of a challenge by civil libertarians.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=%5CCulture%5Carchive%5C200409%5CCUL20040920a.html

Net security threats growing fast
More than 30,000 PCs per day are being recruited into
secret networks that spread spam and viruses, a study
shows.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3666978.stm

PC security threats hit new high
The numbers of viruses, worms, Trojans and other
malicious programs aimed at PC users has now surpassed
100,000.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3673814.stm

uk: Government warns of net dangers
The government is planning a major public awareness
campaign on computer security and internet safety
risks.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3659156.stm

Hackers costing enterprises billions
Hackers continued adding billions to the cost of doing
business on the Internet in the first half of 2004,
despite security executives' efforts to prevent
malicious attacks.

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid14_gci1007181,00.html

Internet has become the most vulnerable ever
A threat of terrorism on the Internet appeared to be
more serious than it was expected to be; displays of
terrorism unbelievably extended because of the global
distribution of the Internet. Dale Watson says, the
threat lies not only in breaks into closed information
systems of state authorities to access data bases or
secret information due to special services that quite
successfully counteract to similar attempts.
 http://crime-research.org/news/22.09.2004/644/

au: We lead in phishing
AUSTRALIA is a world leader in phishing scams and the
fourth most common launching pad for internet attacks,
research shows.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,10825718%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html

A click away from a mugging
THE computer has replaced the gun as the ideal weapon
as criminals turn increasingly to the internet as a
tool for separating Joe Public from his money,
crime-fighters warned at an international conference
here.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,10818981%5E15841%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

us: Reno talk to open cyber crime conference
Janet Reno is to deliver a speech titled “The Justice
System: National Security, Wrongful Convictions and
Sentencing” and will serve as the keynote address for
the Advanced Cyber Crime Training Conference.

http://www.thedmonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/09/20/414e576774c4a

Cyberkriminalität: EU berät gemeinsames Vorgehen
Am Freitag haben sich in Straßburg Vertreter von
Regierungen, Ermittlungsbehörden und Unternehmen aus
aller Welt getroffen, um über die Ratifizierung eines
Abkommens gegen Cyberkriminalität zu beraten. 30
Länder haben das Abkommen bislang unterzeichnet, erst
acht Staaten haben es bislang auf nationaler Ebene
umgesetzt.

http://zdnet.de/news/security/0,39023046,39126086,00.htm

hk: Google news site hit by legal row over copyright
Google forged ahead with its news website despite
threats of legal action and allegations by local media
of copyright infringement.
 http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=14525

German Police Break Up Vast Internet Piracy Operation
German police have broken up an Internet piracy
operation that peddled millions of euros (dollars)
worth of bootleg films, computer games, music and
software, police and prosecutors said Friday.
 http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1095434414709

******
POLICY
******
nz: Watchdog tackles libido 'enhancer' seller
An internet trader is illegally touting dietary
supplements as libido, breast or penis enhancers, in
one of several cases being investigated by medicine
regulator Medsafe.
 http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3038567a11,00.html

etenidos integrantes de una red que comercializaba
medicamentos en la Red
La operación, que la Guardia Civil ha denominado
"Esculapio", ha provocado la detención de 4 personas,
dos de ellas con nacionalidad alemana y las otras dos
portuguesas, según ha informado la Agencia EFE.

http://delitosinformaticos.com/noticias/109576246318011.shtml

us: Back to School and Gaming Kids
Internet-ready schools do little to protect kids from
seemingly safe sites whose only reason to exist is
invasive marketing aimed directly at young web
surfers. These corporate-sponsored "advergames" look
interactive but the endgame is "buy."
 http://wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65011,00.html

us: Consumer Groups Seek Veto of Bill on Spyware (reg
req'd)
Spyware rivals spam as the top gripe of PC owners, but
a bill that aims to crack down on the sneaky programs
could make them more common, consumer and privacy
advocates warned Friday.

http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-spyware18sep18,1,5955855.story

U.S. to outlaw Net voyeurs
Miniaturization of technology and proliferation of
cellphone cameras used in secretly photographing
people in a compromising position.

http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040921.gtvoyeur0921/BNStory/Technology/
 http://internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3411121

*****
SPAM
*****
Anti-spam firms hit back at Gartner claims
Gartner's claim that the level of unsolicited bulk
email is falling has been rejected by users and
anti-spam companies

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39167412,00.htm

Spammers go east with junk offers
Spam messages in Chinese, Korean and Japanese are on
the rise, say e-mail filtering experts.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3676380.stm

************
INTERNET USE
************
Make the Internet safe for your child
Make it a rule to never give out any identifying
information like your address, telephone number or
school name in chat rooms, forums, forms or
questionnaires.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=115&art_id=vn20040919113245242C478754

How safe from porn is your surfing child?
The worldwide web offers a wealth of information at
the click of a button - but it is not always what you
want your children to see.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=vn20040919113240975C545890

Cambodian children get cyber savvy
It may be holiday time, but students still hang out at
a handful of schools in impoverished Cambodia, lured
by free internet kiosks aimed at getting more people
au fait with cyberspace.

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_technology_story_skin/449067%3fformat=html

Sydney to bridge harbour with Wi-Fi ferries
The Australian city is considering providing wireless
Internet access on the ferries that move commuters and
visitors around the bay

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/wireless/0,39020348,39167304,00.htm

40% of Singaporeans have broadband access
High-tech Singapore is also proving to be high-speed,
with almost 40 percent of households hooked up to the
internet via broadband technology, the government
says.

http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/22/1095651361683.html

*****
WSIS
*****
gh: Media urged to propagate ICT messages
Mr. Albert Ken-Dapaah, Minister of Communication on
Wednesday charged the media to play a lead role in the
propagation of messages about Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) since it has the
ability to reach greater proportion of the populace.
He said the rapidly changing socio-economic
environment in a global scale, has become more
important to engender public discussions on issues
with respect to ICT on the global level.

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=66057

Good Governance And Press Freedom
ICANN believes that if African journalists can be
fully sensitised to reporting online, people around
the world will have chance of benefiting from ICTs.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200409200225.html

Fresh Opportunity Beckons for Africa in Internet
Governance
Africa will soon have a Regional Internet Registry
(RIR), an administrative system to oversee Internet
address allocation and registration, following the
submission of an application by the African Network
Information Centre to ICANN.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200409200226.html

Africa: Unfavourable Internet Traffic: a Commercial
Question
The persistent complaints by Internet Service
Providers in the African continent that they are
unfairly treated by current Internet traffic routing
methods that make them to pay for inbound and outbound
internet traffic would not change except African ISPs
decided to a solution to it.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200409200858.html

Open Ends: Civil Society and Internet Governance -
Part I
This is the first part of a three-part series
interview by Geert Lovink with Jeanette Hofmann,
policy expert from Germany, where she talks about her
experiences as a member of the ICANN's Nominating
Committee and her current involvement as a civil
society member of the German delegation for the World
Summit of the Information Society (WSIS).
 http://www.circleid.com/article/717_0_1_0_C/
Part II
 http://www.circleid.com/article/718_0_1_0_C/
Part III
 http://www.circleid.com/article/721_0_1_0_C/

WGIG will Reassess - or Reassert? - Governments' Role
in Internet by Milton Mueller
The United Nations consultation exercise on the WGIG
attracted a surprisingly large number of governments.
About 250 people attended the event, including
delegations from most of the world's governments. The
consultation was held in Geneva's Palais des Nations.
Nitin Desai of India, the Under-Secretary-General for
economic and social affairs who presided over the
meeting, announced at the end that it "has been more
constructive than expected." South Africa either was
absent or completely silent but Brazil, one of the key
critics of ICANN and a driver of the creation of the
WGIG, clarified the rationale underlying its push for
a UN working group.

http://icannwatch.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/21/1812238&mode=thread

Internet governance under spotlight in Geneva
Representatives of governments, companies and other
organizations will meet in Geneva today to set up the
group that will lay the groundwork for the United
Nations' entry into the field of internet governance.

http://cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=2997C172-8203-48DA-A759-FEBC1C769346

Highway Africa to assess information summit outcomes
More than 300 delegates from across the African
continent are attending the Highway Africa conference
that began in Grahamstown this morning. They are
debating issues related to the use of information and
communication technologies (ICTs) in journalism.

http://www.sabcnews.com/sci_tech/internet/0,2172,87927,00.html

Regierungen möchten größeres Gewicht bei
Internet-Verwaltung
Kurz vor einem ersten Treffen zur Vorbereitung der
Working Group Internet Governance (WGIG) der UN hat
das norwegische Außenministerium weitreichende
Alternativen zum bisherigen System der
Internet-Verwaltung und DNS-Administration
vorgeschlagen.
 http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/51131

Zivilgesellschaft will den Chef für UN-Arbeitsgruppe
Netzverwaltung stellen
Der Vorsitzende der UN-Arbeitsgruppe zur Zukunft der
globalen Netzverwaltung (Working Group on Internet
Governance, WGIG) soll aus dem Kreis der
Zivilgesellschaft, also der Gruppen jenseits von
staatlichen Organisationen, Parteien und
Lobbyverbänden, oder aber aus der Privatwirtschaft
kommen. Diesen Vorschlag unterbreitete die Berliner
Sozialwissenschaftlerin Jeanette Hofmann bei den
Vorbereitungstreffen für die WGIG in Genf Kofi Annans
Informationsgesellschafts-Berater Nitin Desai und dem
Schweizer Diplomaten und WGIG-Sekretär Markus Kummer.
 http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/51331

************************
COMMENT, MICROSOFT & DEVELOPMENTS
************************
us: Academics get NSF grant for Net security centers
The National Science Foundation announced Tuesday that
it has granted more than $12 million to academic
researchers for the creation of two centers to
investigate infectious code and study the Internet's
ecology.
 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5376474.html

Towards an internet in space
The internet, or at least the protocols behind it, are
being extended into space. The man credited by many
with having created the net, Vint Cerf, explains his
vision of an interplanetary net.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/3665352.stm

ca: No need for Dickensian approach to voice-via-Web
by Michael Geist
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
Although Dickens wrote his oft-quoted novel, A Tale Of
Two Cities, in the 19th century, his words resonate
with prescient timeliness today. Consider the story of
a technology that allows customers to by-pass
traditional distribution channels with unlimited, low
cost communication.
 http://geistcanadavoippolicy.notlong.com

Attacks on Windows PC's Grew in First Half of 2004
(reg req'd)
A survey of Internet vulnerabilities shows a sharp
jump in attacks on Windows-based personal computers
and a marked increase in commercially motivated
threats.

http://nytimes.com/2004/09/20/technology/20secure.html

AOL, RSA, VeriSign push authentication services
Responding to a scourge of online fraud and identity
theft that threatens to undermine public confidence in
Internet commerce, major companies are rolling out new
services to encourage the adoption of better
technology to identify customers, business partners
and employees online.
 http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0921aolrsa.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37700-2004Sep21.html

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/21/hardware_tokens/

AOL, RSA und Verisign pushen Authentifizierung
Nachdem Online-Betrug und Identitätsdiebstahl immer
weiter um sich greifen, steigen große Anbieter mit
Lösungen in den Ring, um die Verbreitung von Technik
zu fördern, mit der sich Kunden, Geschäftspartner und
Mitarbeiter online identifizieren lassen.

http://www.computerwoche.de/index.cfm?pageid=254&type=detail&artid=65341&linktype=rss

VeriSign Introduces VeriSign Unified Authentication;
Integrated Offering Provides Enterprises With A
Comprehensive Solution for Strong Authentication (news
release)

http://verisign.com/verisign-inc/news-and-events/news-archive/us-news-2004/page_016115.html

Firefox beats million-download deadline
With days to spare, the Mozilla Foundation beat its
10-day goal of 1 million Firefox downloads.

http://news.com.com/Firefox+beats+million-download+deadline/2100-1032_3-5371875.html

***********************
ARRESTS FOR CHILD PORN
***********************
us: Prosecutors seek to have sex charge reinstated
Child molesters who solicit sex acts from kids online
are routinely convicted - even after it's revealed the
person they were chatting with over the Internet was
not actually a child, but an undercover detective.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-09202004-368730.html

us: Prosecutor seeks 100-year sentence for Miami child
pornographer with HIV
A man who ran an international child pornography
business out of a Miami Beach hotel room knew he was
HIV positive when he videotaped himself having sex
with children in Cuba and Ecuador, federal prosecutors
said in recent court papers.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-cporn21sep21,0,6430780.story

us: El Paso Man Arrested For Child Pornography
El Paso police have arrested a West El Paso man for
Child Pornography Possession and now they say they
need your help prosecuting him.
 http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/3750254/detail.html

us: Cushing Man Arrested On Child Pornography Charges
A 37-year old man faces child pornography charges
after students at an Oklahoma high school found
shocking pictures in their lockers.

http://kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=69382

us: Cedar Rapids man pleads guilty to having child
pornography
U-S Attorney Charles W. Larson Sr. says a 32-year-old
Cedar Rapids man has pleaded guilty to possessing
child pornography.
 http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2325902

http://www.theiowachannel.com/news/3749303/detail.html

us: Child porn found on site
An Iowa City man said he is certain someone living
outside the area hacked into his Web hosting system to
store child pornographic material.

http://press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040922/NEWS01/409220308/1079

us: Topekan Charged with Pornography
A Topeka man has been charged with sending and
receiving child pornography over the Internet.
 http://www.wibw.com/news/headlines/1035841.html

us: Milford Man Sentenced For Child Pornography
A former Milford man who had been in a Florida prison
on a pornography charge will be serving time in a
Connecticut prison on similar charges.
 http://www.nbc30.com/news/3739004/detail.html

us: Former principal sentenced for porn
A former Troy School District principal was sentenced
to 24 months of probation Monday after pleading guilty
this summer to possession of child pornography.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/top/j22troy.htm

us: Lee man arrested on porn charges
A Smithville man is arrested on a computer pornography
charge and more charges are expected.
 http://crime-research.org/news/20.09.2004/650/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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Sources include Quicklinks (www.qlinks.net) and BNA
Internet Law News (www.bna.com/ilaw)".

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(c) David Goldstein 2004

=====
David Goldstein
 address: 2/4 Dundas Street
             COOGEE NSW 2034
             AUSTRALIA
 email: Goldstein_David@yahoo.com.au
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